The red-neck grebe reported on the 11th by Dave Slager was still present
this afternoon at about 3:00 pm qlmost exactly where Dave left it: just off
the west shore about 30 yards north of the parking lot entrance across from
Walnut Street.  The bird was close enough to be easily identified with
binoculars, although a scope was handy for really good views.

If you look for the bird and see a pied-billed grebe instead, keep looking:
the red-necked grebe was keeping company with a pied-billed, nearly
colliding with it at one point -- probably a coincidence rather than an
interaction.

There also was a nice assortment of waterfowl on the reservoir, with birds
scattered from the spillway below the dam to the shoreline near the boat
launch at the end of Maxtown Road.  The cold temperature and stiff wind from
the north were brutal, but the conditions did not seem to bother the birds
on the water.  The geese, though, were almost all on shore in whatever
shelter they could find.

Here's a list of species seen:

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  - 3
American Wigeon (Anas americana) - two below the dam
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  - one near the dam
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  - many here and there, including a solid line
of perched ducks in the lee of the dam (smart birds!)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) - two below the dam and perhaps 25 near
Maxtown Rd
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  - one hanging out with Redheads
Redhead (Aythya americana)  - a flock of 6 near Maxtown Rd
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)  - one near the dam
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  - one small group well above the dam, another
near Maxtown Rd
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  - here there and everywhere
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  - one well out above the dam
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  - one near the dam, another at
Walnut Str
Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena)  - one near Walnut Str
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  - scattered everywhere
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) - a total of 3

--
Bill Heck

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